Healing
by TrthIsOutThere
Summary: MSR. Set during season 8. Mulder's reaction to Scully's pregnancy is the best way to describe it. One-shot. Complete
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Just found this while I was cleaning off my external hard drive. I breezed through it and decided to upload it. Set during Three Words in Season 8 I think, or at least the episode or two before. You know that pivotal scene where Mulder tells Scully he's overwhelmed and doesn't know where he fits in. Enjoy!

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><p>The table top was littered with the contents of a manila file, though, for once, the information had no relation to the X-files. Fox Mulder stared down at several three-by-five black and white photos laid out on the coffee table in front of him. His tongue refused to form any of the words he wanted to say and his mouth was suddenly dry. Dana Scully, his long-time FBI partner sat close to his side, he could see her contented and almost-amused smile playing on her face and shining in her eyes. Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck lightly, delicately. The small, intimate gesture was reassuring as he continued to stare, bug-eyed and open-mouthed at the pictures as if they were the sole, irrevocable proof of what she had been trying to tell him since they had returned to his apartment from North Carolina. They said nothing in and of themselves, only solidifying the truth.<p>

They had each been cautious of each other, and rightfully so; they're previous experiences wouldn't allow anything else. There had been too many occasions where things weren't what they seemed. She had treated him as if he might become hostile at any moment. She had watched Billy Miles' transformation without knowing it. She had then saved Mulder's life in North Carolina, probably in more ways than one, but he had purposefully shoved distance between them because he thought she was confused at his return, obviously she was involved with someone else. She was pregnant and he didn't known how long he had really been gone.

And then Scully had been gentle with him. From the moment he had finally opened his eyes after so long, right up until now as they sat on his worn leather couch. Even as he had remained distant and disbelieving, she took it in stride as she always had. She was faithful, she believed, she was unremittingly determined. This was what kept him desperately attached to her before being abducted and it was what made him call out for her in his darkest moments when he had nearly lost all hope. It was what forced him to listen as she stood on the far side of his living room, looking small and broken at his rejection. _Mulder…I don't have to tell you…you fit in with me…_

It was simple mathematics for her. He had looked up into eyes that longed for him to understand, above a mouth that would never say the words it so desperately wanted to. The next step was his, but he couldn't make his feet move from their spot for several long moments. Finally, his mouth formed the right words. "Show me, Scully." The tears that had glassed her eyes finally fell down over her cheeks and splashed to the floor. His feet were suddenly light and before he knew it, he had wrapped himself around her while she released all the frustration that had built up over the past several months. Finally, Mulder had asked about the bump she had acquired and she laughed. She left to get the file from her car and that left them in their current place with Mulder coming to terms that he was the father of the life within Scully.

He reached out and touched one of the sonogram images with shaking fingers. His breath caught in his throat, his eyes welling up, and then finally spilling over. An uncontrollable smile spread slowly across his face and he looked at Scully. "This is for real." It was no longer a question.

Scully smiled and reached for his idle hand on his lap, squeezing his fingers in her much smaller hand. She nodded. "One hundred percent."

"How?" he asked without hesitation.

Biting her lip, Scully shrugged. "My doctor said it was the old fashioned way. The in vitro treatments never took." Mulder's face paled and he looked down, nodding and causing Scully to giggle. She leaned forward and lifted his chin with her fingers. "Mulder, just…just call it a miracle."

"I do, Scully," he said, his eyes drifting down to her stomach. The weight of reality was settling on his shoulders. "How could I not?" He tried to look at her eyes, but his refused to leave her abdomen. She allowed him to stare; she had nothing but time to help him come to terms with this news. By this point in her pregnancy, staring was the least of her worries. She had dealt with plenty of elderly women reaching out and rubbing her stomach sans invitation, questioning her about every detail of her pregnancy. After a long silence, Mulder's eyes tore away from her stomach and swept up to her face. "Sc…I…Do…how do you feel?"

Scully finally laughed, feeling relieved. "I'm fine, Mulder."

He launched off the couch, his kinetic energy suddenly returning full-force. "Can I get you anything? Anything, Scully. I could run to the store. Isn't pickles and ice cream…? Don't pregnant women like that?" He was a blur in front of Scully, pacing back and forth beside her. The wheels were working behind his hazel eyes, his computer-like brain overloading as it tried to process all the new information. Scully watched him silently as he chewed his lower lip. This was the last reaction she had expected from Mulder. In all the years that they had known each other, Scully had never seen him as nervous as he was now. She reached out and grabbed his hand, tugging him back onto the couch beside her. He sat ramrod straight and stared at the blank television screen across the room, much to Scully's continued amusement.

"Mulder," she said, smiling.

"What do I _do_, Scully?" he finally asked.

"Nothing," she said simply with a shrug.

"Nothing?" Mulder repeated.

Scully shook her head. After a short hesitation, she reached out and brushed his hair back from his forehead. "Are _you_ going to be okay?"

Mulder's shoulders finally sunk and he leaned back against the couch, scrubbing his face with his hands. "It just got very real for a minute," came his muffled, drawled response.

Scully smiled again and settled into a comfortable silence beside him, patting his knee. She felt the small life inside of her stir awake as she settled into the couch, but immediately jumped up as her bladder suddenly became a miniature trampoline. "I'll be right back," she said quickly.

Mulder watched her disappear into the bathroom before sitting forward and reexamining the sonogram photos on the table. His own miracle was sprawled out on the table before him and he felt an uncontrollable smile spread across his face again. Everything was going to be fine. The baby growing in Scully's womb was his. And hers. Theirs.

When he had initially agreed to help Scully have a baby, he oddly had never considered having an emotional attachment. He had merely been flattered that he was the first person she had considered asking for help. But now that she was actually there telling him it had worked, his heart had melted and he panicked all at once, immediately wondering if he could protect his child as a whole lifetime, from first steps to college graduation, flashed before his eyes. Maybe he had the same desires Scully had had all along; he had just never slowed down to actually consider them.

It took the flushing toilet to bring him out of his reverie and he wandered into the bedroom, sinking onto the mattress as he waited for Scully to emerge from the bathroom. To his surprise, she only opened the door, but remained where she was. "Mulder, I want to show you something." Wordlessly, he wandered into the bathroom to find her staring into the mirror with her brown sweater folded up over her stomach. "Look," she said. "The baby is awake." Mulder swallowed as his eyes traveled down to her stomach again and watched as Scully's stomach began to undulate with every movement beneath the skin. His first reaction was to recoil in repulsion, but his curiosity got the better of him and he moved in for closer inspection. He looked up at Scully as something poked at the side of her stomach, trying to push its way out. "It's a foot," she said, giggling.

"What's it doing?" Mulder asked in awe.

"Stretching. It's a bit of a cramped space in there."

Mulder continued to stare. Everything would be fine.


	2. Chapter 2

Several hours later found them both in Mulder's bed. The TV was on low as Mulder continuously flipped through the channels and Scully tossed and turned beside him trying to find a comfortable sleeping position while the baby enjoyed its active time. She was having trouble settling and Mulder was at a loss for how to help her. She had already told him there was nothing he could do nearly an hour before. He persisted asking her what he could do to help until she threatened to go sleep in her own apartment. When she wasn't tossing, she was jumping up to go to the bathroom or complaining about his neighbor's cooking from two floors below and how nauseous the smell made her. It made him feel guilty; she wouldn't have gotten to this point without him, he felt responsible for her discomfort. He had to do something.

Scully returned from the kitchen with a glass of water and crawled back beneath the covers, proceeding to toss as soon as she hit the mattress. It took him a minute, but he finally rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand and watched as Scully's eyes opened and met his. "I'm _fine_, Mulder," she said defiantly.

"Scully, can I ask you a question?"'

She nodded.

"Do you know the sex?"

"Oh, umm…" The question had taken her aback. Of all the things he could have asked her, this was the last thing she expected. Shaking her head, she said, "No. I wanted to wait."

"Oh," he said, nodding. "Okay."

She flattened the pillow in front of her face, frowning. "Why?"

Mulder shrugged. "I expected you to be one of the people that would want to know."

Scully smiled, reaching out and patting his chest. "I have another appointment next week. You can go if you'd like. Ask Dr. Airlie yourself."

"Dr. Airlie…what about…?"

Scully cut him off quickly. "Parenti is no longer my doctor. He's just another player in this never ending game."

Mulder's face went slack and his whole body stiffened. "What did he do to you?"

Scully immediately reached out and cupped his cheek in her hand. "We're both okay, Mulder. We had plenty of help."

A small sigh escaped his lips. "Are you sure?"

Scully nodded.

After a brief comfortable silence, Mulder asked, "Do you really want me to go with you to the doctor?"

"Yes," she said, nodding. "Absolutely." Then as an afterthought, she added, "But don't tell me."

Mulder smirked. "No, never." He pulled the blanket back and watched Scully's stomach roll again. "That just fascinates me."

Scully released a frustrated sigh and looked down at her protruding stomach. "_That_ keeps me up most nights."

"Does it hurt?"

Scully shook her head. "Not always."

"Can I touch it?"

Scully smiled. "Give me your hand," she said, taking his extended hand and guiding it down to rest on her stomach. She laid her hand on top of his and pressed down gently on the lump beneath her skin. The baby moved and she looked up, watching Mulder's reaction. Mulder's eyes lit up and he smiled again in complete awe.

"That's amazing, Scully," he whispered and she nodded. "I…I know how much this means to you."

Scully was silent for a moment before her eyes dropped and she scooted up beside Mulder. He pulled her close, moving her into place tucked beneath his chin. Everything that they wanted to say, everything that they had missed about each other, their fears, and their contentment was said in the way they lay curled up beside each other, the rest of the world and looming questions of invasion and predetermined purposes be damned.

Until Mulder felt a tiny foot catch him in the gut and he grunted. "Okay, _this_ is not going to work, Scully."

Her only response was to hold him tightly and giggle.

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><p>Lol...Hope you enjoyed it.<p> 


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